Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Centre for Disease Control Director Vicki Krause says melioidosis cases continue to rise in the NT with 50 since the start of the year

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Centre for Disease Control Director Vicki Krause says melioidosis cases continue to rise in the NT with 50 since the start of the year · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Earlier this year, there was a spike in milliadosis cases
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: following the heavy rainfall around Christmas and New Year period.
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  Speaker 1: We know that cases of the disease found in contaminated
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  Speaker 1: soil and water have continued to rise, and the Center
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  Speaker 1: for Disease Controlled Director Vicki Krause joins me on the
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  Speaker 1: line right now to give us a bit of an update.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Vicki, Yeah, good morning, Thanks so.
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  Speaker 1: Much for your time this morning. Now, first off, can
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  Speaker 1: you remind us about what meliadosis is.
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  Speaker 2: Well. Melio dosis is a disease that is common in
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  Speaker 2: the tropics and subtropics, but particularly common to us in
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory in the top end. It's a soil
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  Speaker 2: borne disease, so it's from a bacteria that lives in
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  Speaker 2: the soil, usually deep in the soil that's brought to
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  Speaker 2: the surface after drenching rains such as we've been having
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  Speaker 2: over the past several months now. It causes usually a
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  Speaker 2: severe illness when it presents. It presents most commonly with pneumonia,
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  Speaker 2: so that's like cough, fever, shortness of breath, but it
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  Speaker 2: actually can form abscesses in many parts of the body,
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  Speaker 2: so it depends where the abscesses land on what type
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  Speaker 2: of symptoms might occur. So it's a serious disease and
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  Speaker 2: particularly for people who have risk factors, with diabetes being
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  Speaker 2: top of that list for risk factors. So it's it's
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  Speaker 2: a disease that people living at the top end have
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  Speaker 2: to be aware of, and particularly at this time of
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  Speaker 2: the year when we're getting new residents and visitors, visitors
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  Speaker 2: from down south off and older relatives sometimes who might
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  Speaker 2: have respectors and vicky.
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  Speaker 1: How how does it spread exactly?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it gains entrance into our bodies mainly by cuts
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  Speaker 2: and sowres. So a really important message is to you know,
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  Speaker 2: avoid getting cuts and sores and avoid having those in
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  Speaker 2: contact with surface or mud. So that's the main way
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  Speaker 2: and the main prevention there is to protect your skin.
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  Speaker 2: So if you're doing manual work or working in the garden,
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  Speaker 2: you know, wear gloves, don't get cuts and scrutches. If
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  Speaker 2: you're working in other industry and you know, make sure
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  Speaker 2: you're wearing proper shoes, and we encourage all people to
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  Speaker 2: be wearing shoes, you know, as often as possible, just
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  Speaker 2: to keep your feet intact. But the other is also
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  Speaker 2: it can be aero slized. So if you think of
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  Speaker 2: all those the winds out there and whipping across waters
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  Speaker 2: and puddles, and just the wind in on the soil,
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  Speaker 2: we know that you can breathe in the bacteria as well.
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  Speaker 2: So we do encourage people who have risk factors not
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  Speaker 2: to go out in the really windy, wet conditions. And
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  Speaker 2: also if people are using high pressure hoses, they should
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  Speaker 2: be wearing face masks, which we've become very familiar.
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  Speaker 1: You're with me, yeah, and VICKI, how how many cases
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  Speaker 1: have we had? I guess so far? You know, v
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  Speaker 1: year have we had? How many cases have we had?
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  Speaker 2: Well, actually, we're already up to fifty, which is built
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  Speaker 2: a lot because we're only you know, just in approaching
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  Speaker 2: halfway you know, through the wet season, and we usually
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  Speaker 2: get about fifty in a seven month period. So we
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  Speaker 2: already have fifty. We're about three times the expected number
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  Speaker 2: by this time of year. And so it is, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we certainly are seeing the effects of the continual rains
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  Speaker 2: we had through December, the effects we had from Cyclone Ellie,
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  Speaker 2: and then just continue We look out the window now
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  Speaker 2: and know that we're getting pretty substantial rain. So these
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  Speaker 2: are you know, this is the the weather conditions that
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  Speaker 2: lead to having more cases of melioid, And we just
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  Speaker 2: want people to be aware and particularly new residents who
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  Speaker 2: might not have heard of this disease.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well it is one of those things, isn't it
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  Speaker 1: up here in the tropics. Is there's a number of
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  Speaker 1: different illnesses and diseases you know, I really aren't prevalent
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  Speaker 1: in other parts of Australia. And unless you unless you've
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  Speaker 1: lived here for a year, unless you've sort of been
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  Speaker 1: here for a wet season, it is quite often that
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  Speaker 1: you just sort of aren't aware of them.
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  Speaker 2: No, that's right, and so as we want, I guess
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  Speaker 2: clinicians to be aware and to be telling their new
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  Speaker 2: patients and new residents about these diseases. So it is
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  Speaker 2: people who have conditions that decrease their ability to fight
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  Speaker 2: off infection, and those diseases are diabetes. As I said,
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  Speaker 2: this is the most overwhelmingly the most common. People who
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  Speaker 2: have hazardous alcohol intake, people on chronic with chronic kidney disease,
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  Speaker 2: and particularly those who are on dialysis, People with chronic
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  Speaker 2: lung disease like chronic obstructive lung disease or brunchie ECTORCIS
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  Speaker 2: and other people who might be on sets, suppress their
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  Speaker 2: immune system or have malignancies, so that group of people
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  Speaker 2: are particularly at risk and should be certainly aware of
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  Speaker 2: this disease in our environment or the specteria the cost disease,
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  Speaker 2: and you.
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  Speaker 1: Did touch on this, but you know, the reality here
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  Speaker 1: is this is actually very serious and it can be fatal.
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  Speaker 1: I understand that we've already lost one life this year
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  Speaker 1: to milliadises.
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  Speaker 2: Well actually in the wet season because we sort of
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  Speaker 2: counted from when the wet season which we arbitrarily make
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  Speaker 2: at one October, So from October last year till now
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  Speaker 2: we have had four deaths from meleodosis and three at
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  Speaker 2: the end of last year and one already this year.
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  Speaker 2: So yes, it is a very serious disease, somewhere between
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  Speaker 2: five and fifteen percent mortality rate. So you absolutely something
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  Speaker 2: we want people to be aware of and try to avoid.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, VICKI just very quickly, you know, to those out
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  Speaker 1: there listening, if lo what are the signs? So what
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  Speaker 1: should what should you be looking out for? Just reiterated
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  Speaker 1: again for us, you know, and and saying to your
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  Speaker 1: GP or saying when you go into an emergency, if
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  Speaker 1: you are at the point where you feel as though
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  Speaker 1: you are you know where you've contracted millia dises well.
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  Speaker 2: As I said, the most common presentation is actually pneumonia,
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  Speaker 2: so that's presenting with you know, shortness of breath, fever
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  Speaker 2: and a cough. But it can affect abscesses in different
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  Speaker 2: places like your bones and your joints, and for men
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  Speaker 2: it affects the process so on you know, problems passing
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  Speaker 2: water and also if you have abscesses or swords in
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  Speaker 2: your skin that don't heal. So if you have something
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  Speaker 2: that's not healing after a week or two, you absolutely
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  Speaker 2: should have that looked at by a clinician and have
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  Speaker 2: it swabbed. And if you feel that you've been out
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  Speaker 2: in you know your work or your activities take you
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  Speaker 2: to working with turf, it's water or mud, or you
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  Speaker 2: know that with recreational activities, you've been in that situation.
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  Speaker 2: Make sure that you tell your doctor about that as well,
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  Speaker 2: and what happens.
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  Speaker 1: Like what happens if you go untreated.
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  Speaker 2: Well untreated, it is a very serious disease and ICU
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  Speaker 2: is very commonly the place that people with stepsis with
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  Speaker 2: meleo dosis end up where they end up and as
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  Speaker 2: I said, death in five to fifteen percent of the
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  Speaker 2: cases that we see in the territory. So you know,
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  Speaker 2: the sooner you get in, the sooner you make a
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  Speaker 2: clinician aware of maybe your suspicion. But also we also
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  Speaker 2: put out alerts to clinicians all during this time period
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  Speaker 2: to make them aware. Again, people come up who have
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  Speaker 2: trained down South who haven't heard necessarily about melo dosis,
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  Speaker 2: so making sure our clinicians are aware is also important.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, I think all the awareness of the public,
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  Speaker 2: awareness of our clinicians is really important.
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  Speaker 1: It really is. Well, doctor Vicky Krauss, the director of
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  Speaker 1: the Center for Disease Control, We always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you,